


One Number Away

by JRae0609



Series: The Songfic Universe [4]
Category: Dean Ambrose - Fandom, WWE
Genre: F/M, Luke Combs, One Number Away, Songfic, The Songfic Universe, WWE - Freeform, WWE Fanfiction - Freeform, dean ambrose - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-17
Updated: 2018-10-30
Packaged: 2019-08-03 08:55:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,515
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16323158
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JRae0609/pseuds/JRae0609
Summary: Dean being angsty.





	1. Disclaimers

**“One Number Away” by Luke Combs**

**Pairing:**  Dean Ambrose x OFC (Liana Blackhorse)

I **ntroduction**

 Welcome to the next installment of ‘The Songfic Universe’ #thesongficuniverse! It won’t be a paranormal situation. I know the last several things I’ve written have been in that vein but I figured why not try something different? Ya know? 

**Disclaimer 1: I own nothing affiliated with the WWE or its creations. I am merely borrowing and using the ‘Dean Ambrose’ character for this story. I also do not own the song ‘One Number Away’ either – again, merely borrowing it as   a storytelling device.**

**Disclaimer 2:**  There will be smut  _at some point_ through this story. It’ll be more of a flashback but I will flag it and try to TW as much as appropriate or what I can identify.  ** _So that means – if you are under the age of 18, please see the door. It will be NSFW._**  

  **Disclaimer 3.1: As with any story I write, the chosen pair is more based upon the character archetypes I am looking for to fulfill a role rather than the exact characters/pairing themselves. I am horrid at creating my own characters for the most part so I tend to borrow from what I know or can otherwise relate to – which for this song ( _ESPECIALLY AFTER THE RECENT RISE OF ANGST ON RAW – FUCKING LOOKING AT YOU SHIELD!_ ) happens to the suddenly angsty as hell Dean Ambrose.**

  **Disclaimer 3.2:**   _While I have the utmost respect for Dean and Renee_ \- as with any real life coupling tied to any character that I utilize -  _for this story to work the way I hear it in my head their relationship has to have never existed._

  **Summary:**  Liana Blackhorse (OFC) is a Native American and up and coming women’s wrestler in NXT, the developmental department of the WWE. There she met, fell in love with and was abandoned by one Dean Ambrose who overreacted about an incident that occurred. Without giving Liana a chance to defend her own self, he broke things off. Now, several months later, he sits on the edge of a practice with his phone in his hand, reliving everything in his head and questioning whether or not he made the right decision. Angst, flashbacks and questions of forgiveness all occur on this short but wild ride.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dean being angsty.

**=And I'm one number away from calling to you/ I said I was through, but I'm dying inside/ Got my head in a mess, girl, I confess…=**

_Liana Blackhorse def. Ember Moon to become the new RAW Women’s Champion_.

The alert came through on his phone big as Dallas as he sat on the edge of the practice staring a hole through it for the third night in a row. He balled his hand up in a fist and pressed it against his forehead, clenching his eyes closed tight. ‘You’re a fucking idiot, man. Why can’t you just dial the number already?’ But if he searched his heart, he damn well knew why. He ruined it just eight short months ago.

            All over a total misunderstanding. But he didn’t know it then.

_Still off because of his injury, Dean thought he’d surprise Liana backstage at her show in Cincinnati. A big grin on his face and a small gift for her in his pocket he asked several staff members where she was to be told she should be either heading to or already in her locker-room. A sway in his step, he ventured off to find his ‘unofficial’ (though everyone who needed to know knew it was official) girlfriend of six months. As he rounded one corner, the grin faded and a fury the likes of which he had never felt before filled him from the roots of his hair down to the toes of his feet._

_Liana – the woman he was determined to finally drop three little words to tonight - was currently pressed against the wall by none other than Tommaso Ciampa – his arms trapping her in place. Dean knew Liana had a good poker face but damn if it wasn’t perfect right now. He had no idea where her brain was and that fucking terrified him._

_“Come on. My girl isn’t here and your man isn’t either. No one needs to know.” Tommaso all but purred. If Dean was furious before, then what he felt right now was nothing a human should ever feel. Snarling, he pulled Tommaso back and threw him into the opposite wall._

_“Think again fucker.” Dean began pacing in front of him._

_“Dean, calm down.” Liana tried to get him to avert his attention to her. And it worked – for a brief moment until Dean growled at her and stormed off not expecting her to follow him. “Dean – damn it! Stop!”_

_Dean whirled on his heels, throwing his hands up. “Go back to him and whatever the two of you were planning!” He hissed._

_Liana paled. “We weren’t planning any---“_

_“I don’t want to fucking hear it! You’re just like THEM! We’re done!” Dean spun around and made for the exit, his heart six feet under. He always felt like he was better off alone._

_And he felt like tonight only confirmed it._

            Dean shook his head, gripping his phone tight. All but one digit of her phone number was entered into a text that his fingers were itching to send. Would she want to hear from him? He sure as hell wouldn’t if he was in her shoes. A few weeks ago the truth was revealed to him by Nikki Cross who came up to the main roster right on the heels of Liana’s appearance. Nikki had witnessed everything – including the fall out.

            _Dean was wrapping his hands, waiting on his match tonight against The Miz – their first match since his return to Smackdown. A throat being cleared caught his attention. He looked up to see it was the newest of the call-ups – the crazy Nikki Cross._

_“Hey grats on the call up.” Dean shot her a nod, returning to what he was doing._

_“She’s in bad shape.” Dean froze, afraid to ask whom the ‘she’ was that Nikki was referring to but he knew in his heart who it was._

_“I have no idea what you are talking about…”_

_“Cut the shit, Ambrose. I saw everything that day. She was heading towards her locker room when Ciampa blindsided her. He’d only just pinned her when you showed up. You being biased as fuck didn’t notice but she was petrified.” Nikki scolded him. Dean sighed, holding his head in hands. “She became a zombie, working and working only after that. Empty as hell. A lot of nights she had night terrors. It broke her.”_

_“Why does it matter now?” Dean felt his heart go back into its coffin the more he listened to Nikki._

_Sighing, she pointed up at him. “She loved you. She… still loves you. There hasn’t been anyone else since.”_

_“How the hell do you know?” He felt like his throat closing up. Nikki walked away and looked over her shoulder at him, wagging her phone at him. Licking his lips he realized Nikki kept in touch with her._

_Almost as if reading his mind, she yelled over her shoulder, “Her phone number hasn’t changed my dude.”_

            Now, he sat here, taking the sign from the cosmos that he should reach out.

            The only question now was would she answer back?

**=Will you pick up when I call? / Or just forget we loved at all?/ We don't have to talk, I just wanna hear your voice…=**


	3. 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dean calls. Liana struggled. SMUTTY FLASHBACKS.

**= Got my head in a mess, girl, I confess/ I lied when I said, "I'm leaving and not coming back"…=**

            Dean huffed. “Fuck it!” Swallowing a huge chunk of his pride, he entered the last digit of her number and hit dial. He found himself slightly encouraged by the fact that he wasn’t immediately forward to her voice mail. However, when her voicemail kicked in, he found the nerves kicking in. Her happy go lucky voice sounded from the system.

            _Hiii! This is Liana Blackhorse. Please leave your name, your number and a brief message and I swear to you I will get back to you as soon as I can. Byee!!_

As the system prompted him to leave a message, he swallowed – clearly out the lump in his throat. When the beep indicating for him to speak sounded, the words flowed nervously from his lips:

             _Hello Liana. I just saw the alert on my phone. I suppose congratulations are totally in order. You’ve done well for yourself. I’m happy for you. Uhm, I know I don’t deserve a response but… nevermind._

Just as quickly as he made the call he hit ‘end’. Dean kicked his feet nervously, wondering if she would even listen to his message let alone call him back. 

 **=** **Will you pick up when I call?** **Or just forget we loved at all? =**  

//

            “Congrats girl!”

            “Welcome to an exclusive club!”

            The congratulations poured in from all over the backstage area. Liana did her best to keep the tears from falling. She hated being like a girl in front of people. Her momma raised her to keep her chin up and to deal with her issues on her own time. As she was all but skipping to her locker-room she felt two very large arms scoop her up from behind.

            “Braun!” She squealed as the giant laughed.

            “Congrats little Li!” Liana groaned, swatting at the big man until he put her down.

             “Listen here Jolly Green!” She pointed a finger up at Braun, who could only grin ear to ear, “Just because I am only five foot five inches tall compared to your almost seven feet doesn’t give you the right to pick on me damn it!” He patted her on top of the head.

            “Sorry munchkin!” Braun sauntered off, laughing maniacally. Liana sighed, smiling as she shook hear head and entered her locker room heading straight for her duffle bag. She felt her hand go numb as she stared at the missed call on her screen. _Dean Ambrose_. Even after all this time she never took his number out of her phone. She held the phone to her chin, lost in thought. 

            “Penny for your thoughts?” A female voice came from behind her. Turning on her heels Liana saw immediately it was her opponent from tonight, Ember Moon. Ember’s hands were on her hips and her face adorned with an expression that said ‘okay spill’.

            Liana groaned and sat down, rolling the phone in her hands. “ _He_ called.”

            “ _He_ as in _HE?”_ Ember arched an eyebrow at the new champion. Liana merely nodded. “Did _he_ leave a voicemail?” Again, only a nod as Liana looked at her phone. “Well listen to it. Damn it girl. At least do that.”

            “I’m… scared.” Liana whispered. Ember looked at the raven-haired warrior sitting in front of her and rubbed the back of her neck.

            “I know you are. But you gotta face it. This was bound to happen sometime. Ya know?” Ember spelled out the rhetoric that Liana knew was the truth.

“Yeah. Uh hey can I get a minute?” Liana barely raised her head, glancing at her best friend. Ember smiled softly and left the room. Taking a deep breath, Liana raised the Galaxy up to her ear as she clicked dial on the voicemail. Her gut knotted up as she heard his voice in a personal way for the first time in eight months:

_Hello Liana. I just saw the alert on my phone. I suppose congratulations are totally in order. You’ve done well for yourself. I’m happy for you. Uhm, I know I don’t deserve a response but… nevermind._

             The call ended there. Liana sat there, stunned, staring at the phone. Did he actually want her to contact him? She didn’t know what to think. All her mind could do was race over their short time together – weighing every good moment with every bad moment. One night in particular brought a smile to her face….

             _They’d been together for almost a month now and nothing physical happened beyond a few heated make-outs. To say Liana was growing antsy and severely frustrated was an understatement. She’d invited Dean over to her place there in Winter Park, FL where she was living so she could be closer to the training center and the Full Sail campus where they filmed for NXT. And she had a plan._

_A knock sounded at her door. She glanced at the clock. 7:01 PM. **A minute late**. She couldn’t help the grin on her face as she could only think that was so his style. Adjusting her halter top that showed just enough of her tanned cleavage to tease and wiping her hands on her rather short black leather skirt, she opened the door. It was hard to contain her glee at his reaction. His blue eyes were beyond wide and his mouth was open far enough you could have driven an 18-wheeler through it. ‘Yes! Score one for me!’ _

_“Hi baby.” She pecked him on the lips and took him by the hand, closing the door behind them as he cleared his throat._

_“Wow doll. I uh wasn’t expecting that.”_

_“I know.” Liana winked at him over her shoulder, making him realize the little minx was up to something. She led him into the living room that was dimly lit with a pallet on the floor and several different platters of food all around._

_“What are you up to?” Dean asked warily, even though internally he knew precisely where she was going with this and it was all he could to keep the zipper of his jeans up as his cock grew painfully hard at the thought._

_Liana shrugged, “A girl’s gotta take charge ya know?” She sat gracefully down as he struggled to kick his shoes off and sit down in front of her, his back to her couch, without tripping over his distracted feet._

_Over the next two hours during which she teased him with her feet on his or biting seductively into her food, he fought and fought and fought._

_And lost._

_Taking a quick slug of his drink, he sat it down and reached over, pulling her lips to his. Pushing her down on her back, he crushed her to him, groaning as he moved his lips to her ear._

_“You don’t fight fair.”_

_“Not when it comes to what I want.” She whispered back, earning a nip of the ear as his hands worked to pull off her halter-top. Rising up to look at the Indian beauty beneath him, he choked as he saw she wasn’t wearing a bra._

_“Now why did I not notice that earlier?” He asked incredulously.  
  
_ _Liana threw her head back, laughing. “I caught the great Dean Ambrose off gu—shit!” He broke her train of thought as he took her right nipple in his mouth, sucking and flipping it with his tongue as his other hand massaged the other one. After a moment he changed sides, mirror the actions on each breast that the opposite one received. “Dean.” Liana whimpered. His hands went to her skirt that had a front zipper._

_“Thank fuck.” He groaned as he undid the zipper and yanked the fabric out from underneath her, seeing she was wearing a dark green lace thong. “Gonna fucking kill a man, doll.” His voice dipped to a level of low she’d yet to hear from him, making her even wetter if that were possible._  
  


_Liana reached for his shirt but was swatted away. She moaned. “But it’s not fair! You need to be as naked as me!” She gasped as he moved the fabric to the side, running a finger along her already dripping pussy. “Please. Please.”_

_“Begging for me?” He leaned down, ghosting his lips over hers, pulling back a bit when she tried to initiate a kiss, smirking at her as she groaned in annoyance. Suddenly she heard the fabric of her thong rip as he ripped it off her and moaned as his lips found her neck as two fingers began to slowly pump in and out of her cunt. “God you feel so good around my fingers. I wonder how you taste?” Dean growled as he kissed his way down to her goal._

_“You – you don’t have to – ohmyGod!” Liana moaned as his tongue started lapping frantically at her swollen clit. Liana’s head thrashed side to side, chanting his name taking his breath away. Grunting he rose up, tossed his shirt to who knows where and quickly deposited of his boxers and jeans. All but falling down on her, he dropped his weight on her as he kissed her in a way that no one had before, grinding the head of his cock against her entrance._

_“Hang tight doll. I don’t think I can take it easy like I wanted to…” He bit down on her neck, earning a moan and a hand scratching down his back._

_“It’s okay, baby. I won’t break.” She teased, moaning as he slowly pushed every last inch inside of her. He kept a slow pace for all of about a minute before fucking her hard and fast._

_“I’ve wanted this for a while now. Fuck you’re so tight. You feel so good baby? Do I make you feel good doll?” He hissed as he pulled her legs up over his arms, angling himself instinctively to the spot she needed._

_“Ah! Fuck! Yes! So good! Ah!” She clawed at his arms as he kept up his brutal pace, feeling her walls tightening faster and faster. He was barely holding back his own release but he always lived by ‘the lady first’._

_“C’mon doll. I’m not gonna last much longer. God you feel so much better than I ever dreamt about jerking off. Fuck.” His voice, strained, sent a shock to her core. Reaching down with a hand, she rubbed a few harsh circles on her sensitive clit crying out with every movement. “Come on doll. Cum for me. Fucking cum for me.” His pace was frantic, needy as she came undone with his name on her lips. Groaning, he kept up his pace for a moment letting her ride out her orgasm before pulling out and stroking himself to completion – his cum coating her stomach. Both stared at each other as he grabbed a blanket to clean her up, amazed at the connection they both felt but were terrified to say anything about in only a month._

_“Dean…”_

_“I know, doll.”_

            Liana smiled to herself. She knew that night that she loved that crazy ball of chaos. But she never got a chance to say the words between their schedules and… the incident. Licking her lips, she wondered if they could get back there. Praying it wasn’t just her unnaturally long streak of optimism, she found his number and hit dial.

// 

            Dean was walking out of the gym as his phone sounded from his pocket. Not bothering to look at it given the time of night it was he answered it.

            “Yo.”

             Then he heard her voice and it felt like he’d entered another reality as he heard her soft, nervous voice on the other end.

            “Dean?”

************************


	4. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Confrontation & discussion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TRIGGERS:
> 
> Mainly - drinking/alcoholism really.

***********************

            “Dean?” Liana asked, doing the best she could to hide the nerves she was currently trying to fend off. She bit her lip as a silence settled over the phone line and for a minute she contemplated hanging up, afraid he had done the same.

            That is until he responded.

             “Liana. I…” Dean cleared his throat, “I wasn’t expecting a call back. I just wanted to congratulate you on the win tonight.”

            Liana giggled, “That damn app can’t get anything secret can it?”

            “Not a chance, doll.” Dean wanted to face-palm so hard. ‘Nice slip up there asshole. 

            “Dean?”

            “Yeah.”

            “Deep breath, man.” Liana snickered from the other end of the line. “I get we’re both kinda nervous here. But take a breath. We both need to not overthink here.”

            Dean ran a hand through his hair as he approached his car. “You’re right. You were always right. That’s why we worked so well. You were the brains and I was the brawn… mostly.”

            “Thank you for the congratulations. I… I was surprised to see you call. I mean…”

            “Yeah I know.”

            “I uhm…” Liana twirled the end of her French braid around her fingers as she sat in the locker-room. “I uhm… would like to talk about _the incident_.” She made sure to put emphasis on the last words but she was sure that even Dean would have realized what she meant otherwise.

             “Yeah. Me too.” Dean got quiet as he sat in the driver’s seat, door open. “I don’t think on the phone would do it justice, though. Do you?”

            "Not a bit. Uhm RAW and Smackdown are supposed to be in the same town next week. Meet up then?”

             Dean smiled slightly, “I’ll let you know where I’m staying and maybe we can meet up at a bar or something.”

            “Cool. I’ll – uh – see you then?” Liana asked awkwardly.

            “Now who’s the one overthinking?” Dean teased.

            “Oh nyah. I’ll be waiting for your message. Till then.” Liana ended the call. Her face was on fire and her heart was beating at the wall of her chest. She didn’t know what next week held for her or for him but it was time to face that demon.

===========

            Liana sat at the hotel bar, tapping her feet nervously. Dean had texted her the night before and they realized they were staying in the same hotel. So they decided to meet at the hotel bar. But now Liana didn’t know what to do. She decided against dressing up too much settling on a pair of black skinny jeans, boots, a forest green long-sleeve shirt and her hair completely down with simple make-up.

            She wanted to try again but she knew they had a few hurdles to get over first.

            “I’m surprised.” Liana yelped as she heard his voice from over her shoulder, earning a gravelly laugh. Dean walked around the table and took a seat. “I mean I was about half expecting you to come dressed to the nines, seeking a bit of payback.” Dean shrugged as Liana chuckled.

            Liana held up two fingers really close to together. “I was this close to doing that, admittedly. But I also knew it wouldn’t help anything.”

            Dean took a breath, rubbing the back of his neck. “Not that I wouldn’t have deserved it.” Liana decided to store that in the ‘to process later’ memory banks. A waitress came by and took their orders.

            “Jack and coke.” The pair said at the same time, sharing a look before busting into laughter.

            “Well… I suppose there was the ice-breaker.” Liana joked finding herself rewarded with a blinding smile from the ginger across from her. They fell into a comfortable silence while they waited for their drinks, leaving Liana to ponder to herself about the conversation that was ahead. She wasn’t going to lie. She was scared out of her wits. She still loved the man but after that night, she hadn’t been right at all. And she didn’t know when she would be right again.

            The waitress deposited their drinks, informing them of they could order another and disappeared. Dean tapped his fingers on the table before groaning. “Okay – to the elephant in the room.”

            Liana grimaced, “Yeah. About that…”

            “I was a fucking idiot and I fucked everything up.” Dean interrupted her, staring straight into her honey brown eyes.

             “I could have spoke up more.” Liana muttered. 

            “I could have listened.”

            “You could have called.”

            “So you could you.” They presented their points and each countered with a point as good as the last.

            Liana took a deep breath. “I know I probably don’t have to ask but it was Nikki that told you right?” Dean smirked, nodding. “Fucking figures.”

            “Why didn’t you try and say something?” Dean reached across and placed a large hand over hers.

            Liana arched a raven eyebrow at him. “Would you have listened?”

           Dean glowered at her. “Okay. Fair point.” Liana giggled quietly. “I’m going to be honest. That night… I was all up in my feels that night. I had gone there to surprise you and with a purpose and I saw Ciampa’s fucking ass and saw red and…” He paused when Liana squeezed his hand.

           “So you were already kinda fired up to begin with and walked in on a situation I didn’t know how to get out of and freaked?” Liana questioned quietly.

           Dean let out a huff of a breath. “Something like that. I was scared for you. I was scared for me. I don’t like being scared. I don’t like the idea of another guy touching you in any way. And like you said I was already fired up and that was just a rabbit-hole that I fell down and my filter broke. I said a lot of shit I didn’t mean. I should have given you a chance to defend yourself. I’m sorry Li.”

           “I’m sorry too.”

           “Nikki told me you were a mess for a long while after that. I’m so sorry. I wrecked ---“

  
            Liana held up a hand, stopping him. “As with nearly anything, it takes two Dean. But yes, I was… a hot mess for a while. Most days I felt like I was on repeat. Stuck in a damn loop. 

**= Might be the whiskey or the midnight rain/ But everywhere I go, I see your face/ In my brain, dial it up, everything I want to say/ But I'm still one number away…=**

            “I can remember it one day in particular was really bad. A month after _it_ happened…”

            _Liana stumbled into her hotel room, a half empty bottle of Jack Daniels in her right hand and a two-liter of Coke in the left. She hated being like this. She did. It went against her upbringing in the worst of ways. But if she didn’t make herself pass out into a deep comatose type of sleep – she’d dream of_ him _. Her heart ached._

 _And tonight – it was a raging storm outside in Kansas City. Mother Nature’s fury was matching her own. Shucking her shoes, she collapsed on the bed a sobbing mess. She always enjoyed staying in bed on rainy days with_ him. _And he wasn’t here._

_‘I should give him a piece of my mind!’ Jerking out her phone she dialed all but one digit of his number – the exact same thing she’d done almost nightly for a month. The words were on the tip of her tongue but the tightness in chest kept her from dialing that last digit._

_‘Fucking chickenshit!’ Liana cursed herself as she put the bottles on the floor, kicked off her pants and threw her shirt down and crawled under the blankets, crying quietly into her pillow._

_‘Will I always be just one number away from settling this?’ Passed through her mind - a nearly her nightly final thought before drifting off into a turbulent sleep – as the world faded to black._

**=Well, if you're anything like me/ You just might be doing whatever it takes to outrun the storm…=**

            Dean sat there, stiff as a board, licking his lips as if he could never get them wet enough. “That sounds awful familiar. Fuck I am so sorry Li.”   


            Liana hung her head, shaking her raven hair side to side. “Well like I said it takes two. I could have summoned up the guts and confronted your stupid ass.”

            After a few moments, Dean took a breath. “So….”

            “So…..”

            “Where’s that leave us?”

            The question hung in the air like a bad wave of cologne.

**= I said I was through, but I'm dying inside….=**

********************

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am at a bit of a cross-roads here.   
> There are one to two more parts left of this.  
> One part if I don't go the smut-route, two if I do.  
> Let me know what you want to see.


	5. Finale

************************  
The question hung in the air like a wave of bad cologne. It was something that needed addressed – no doubt – in light of everything. But neither party was entirely sure of what to say.

Dean ran his hand over his bearded chin. “To be honest… I don’t know.”

Liana grimaced. “That makes two of us then.”  Liana squeezed his hand lightly. “Don’t get me wrong – I’d like to try again if you’re up for it but… I’m also –“

“Terrified?” Dean finished her statement. Liana giggled softly and nodded. “That makes two of us then.” Dean couldn’t help but to smirk a little as he returned her words back at her.

“Funny.” Liana snorted at him. “I guess… best place to start is just to keep talking and see what happens from there.”

Dean got up out of his chair. “Come on. Let’s pay our tab and take a walk.” Liana raised an eyebrow at his sudden change in demeanor but did as requested by the man who just vacated his chair. Still, after everything, he was a mystery to her. He never really ever gave away where his mindset was or what he was feeling.

And then it dawned on her as they made their way outside.

That is precisely what led them to where they currently were.

Dean noticed a few guys eyeballing Liana and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, tugging her close while all but snarling at the drunken idiots looking at her like she was available. After everything that’s happened, he would be damned if he’d let anyone else to get close enough to her to even try taking her from him again.

The pair walked in an uncomfortable silence until Liana decided she’d had her fill of it. As they crossed a bridged path over a small channel of water, she huffed, pulled out of his embrace, crossing her arms. Dean blinked a few times before turning to face the ball of fire he knew he had coming.

“Dean. What’s going on in the noodle of yours?” Liana pressed her lips into a thin line.

“Nothing—“

Liana rolled her eyes, growling. “Bullshit. I may not be a mind reader but I know when you are caught up in that head of yours. What’s going on?”  Liana turned her back on the railing, leaning against it.

Dean ran his tongue over his teeth and approached her, hands on the railing on each side of her and looked her directly in the eye. “Fine. Wanna know?” Liana nodded, her braided hair slapping the railing. “I can’t stop thinking about how bad I screwed up.” He ran a hand over his bearded chin. “I went there that night to give you a necklace I’d bought you and to….” He grunted and stepped away from her, pulled out his phone.

“To what Dean?” Liana spoke quietly as she felt like her stomach was about to drop out form under her.

He glared coldly at the phone. “That night after I got bleary-eyed drunk I’d typed it all out. Everything I wanted to say. Nearly sent it too. But I couldn’t find it in me to enter the last digit of your number, doll. I couldn’t. I felt like I lost everything and yet I knew a lot of it was on my own hothead. “ Liana’s mouth went dry as she listened to him. He went through the exact same things she did.

For some odd reason, it made her heart swell with hope hearing his words. Maybe they were closer to being on the same page after all.

Liana giggled, pulling out her phone. “You know… it’s kinda crazy.”  
Dean snorted, looking over his shoulder at her. “What? Me?”

Liana smiled softly at him, “Well besides that… I have a similar draft saved to my phone.” Dean was stunned into utter silence as he turned to face her once again. “Right down to the last digit being absent.” Liana stepped right in front of him and craned her neck upwards, staring him in the eye.

**= And I’m one number away from calling to you/ I said I was through, but I’m dying inside/ Got my head in a mess, girl, I confess/ I lied when I said, “I’m leaving and not coming back"…=**

Dean’s tongue darted out across his lips, “You really think we could give this another try?”

Liana beamed at him and whispered, “Do you think you could keep clued in as to what is going on in that brain of yours?”

Dean hung his head, “You know communication ain’t my strongest suit, doll.”

Liana grunted, “That’s an understatement. Tell you what. If you can speak it, type it. I’m just one number away after all.” Dean raised his head a bit to see a sly smile on her face.

**= In my brain, dial it up, everything I want to say…=**

Dean grinned down at her, “I see what you did there. And okay. I’ll try.”

Liana shrugged as she took to her tiptoes, “That’s all I can ask. Gotta start somewhere right?”

“Right.”

And a new hope bloomed as they shared a simple kiss.

**= Yes, you’re one number away…=**

*********************************


End file.
